


Her King's Assassin

by GoringWriting



Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Insurance Fraud, Modern Royalty, faking your death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 04:18:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14417526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoringWriting/pseuds/GoringWriting
Summary: Vivian is your normal everyday assassin until she gets a job to kill the rotten king of her home country. But things are not always as they appear.





	Her King's Assassin

The bar is packed to the ceiling with people hunched over their drinks of choice when I enter the bar. I survey the people around me, poor red eyed men and women drinking away their worries, women and men dancing in the hope that they can find someone to love them who might be able to take care of them in these trying times, and people like me, here for a reason that nothing will deter them from. There are men crying onto the bartop, not that I blame them, the kingdom’s dire financial situation has made everyone cry at some point in the nearly three years since it began. All because the new king can’t keep his greedy fingers out of the treasury. Not that anyone has been able to prove anything, but it’s whispered in every corner of the Kingdom by the people who have had too much alcohol loosening their tongues.  
I make my way through the throng of people pressed up against each other and towards the back of the bar to a booth where the familiar wrinkled face of my middle man is watching me. I slide in next to him and take a sip of the drink in front of me.  
“Good evening Nigel. I got your message,” I say and he just smiles at me.  
“I would hope so Vivian, otherwise this is one big coincidence,” Nigel says laughing at what he thinks was a good joke and I roll my eyes.  
“I don’t have time for games Nigel. Do I have an assignment or not?” I ask tapping my fingers against the glass.  
“Always in such a rush my dear. Oh well the impatience of youth I guess. Yes, you have an assignment,” Nigel says and pulls a large envelope out of his pocket and hands it to me and I turn it over in my hands. It’s heavy, whoever is hiring me must be paying a lot. I open the envelope and look inside.  
“Someone hired me to kill the King?” I ask keeping my voice low even though it’s nearly impossible to hear me above the music. I’ve learned the lesson that people will sell whatever information they can get their hands on in order to make a couple bucks anywhere they can and it’s not like I can blame them, I would do the same if I needed the money.   
“You will receive your usual rate plus an extra fifty,” Nigel says and I check to make sure that my advance is in there. With a hit this big and a payout like that I have to make sure I’m going to be paid.  
“Okay, I’ll I'll do it. Did they set a deadline?” I ask after Nigel produces his flask.   
“Two weeks,” Nigel says taking a sip out of his flask and I roll my eyes. For someone whose job requires a steady hand and eye, he doesn't seem to do much to preserve either.   
“Were there any requests?”   
“They want you to make it look like an accident and they wanted it to be quick and painless,”   
“They must care about the king,” I say and wonder if the the king has an insurance policy. It seems like something the old king would have stressed the importance of.   
“So, what do you say,” Nigel asks watching me closely for signs of doubt, which I know he won’t.   
“The old King is dead, long live the Queen,” I say and slip the envelope into my coat and I leave the bar and walk home. I have an accident to plan and to do that I need sleep.   
Five days into my recon. I find myself wondering how the King has managed to survive this long. He refuses to wear a seatbelt, he orders his chauffeur to get out and to let him drive. Then he drives at what, in my opinion, is far too fast to be safe. Everytime he goes to sleep he sends his bodyguards away. Probably so he won’t have to pay them.   
By the end of the week I have watched him put his life in danger so many times that I have to wonder why someone hired me to kill him. He is making it way too easy for me to plan an accident. It’s just a question of setting up the perfect accident. Honestly at this point I could walk right into the mansion and mess around with the oven to kill him and no one would know. The place is completely deserted most of the time. I count maybe five guards who leave every night and that’s it. He doesn’t even seem to have a staff to tend the mansion.  
I’ve never been one to waste an opportunity like this so I make the decision to sneak in that Sunday night. There’s nobody out and about that could see me. Which just makes things all the more simpler for me to sneak over the fence under the cover of night. I scale the wall of the mansion with a ladder, I chalk the fact that it was just left out where anyone could see it as just one more irresponsible thing that the king has done during his rule. I come to the open window on the north side of the Mansion and I start to feel bad about the payout I’m going to receive for this job. A toddler could pull this off.   
I make my way through the hallway following the dull red carpet and into the throne room and I can't help but notice that the throne has been stripped of its traditional gold and jewels. I try to remember the last time I saw them on throne and I can't. I don't think I've seen them since the coronation. Thinking back on my trip through the Mansion I can't remember seeing anything expensive or even remotely fancy. I push those thoughts from my mind, I can't have them interfering with my mission. I need to keep a clear head. I have one shot and I can't afford to miss it.  
The King's bedroom isn't hard to find. It's relatively close to the throne room and not locked. I easily slip inside and find the king laying in bed with the blankets up to his chin, but something about all of this seems off somehow. Suspiciously so. I watch the rise and fall of his chest and I know what's wrong.   
“I know you're awake,” I say, the element of surprise is already lost anyway. The King's eyes open and he looks at me. I hold his gaze and step towards the bed. He doesn't even flinch.  
“You don't seem afraid of me, a stranger in your room, and one with a gun at that,” I say pulling my gun out.  
“You're not going to kill me, not with that gun at least,” the king says.   
“Oh? Why is that?”   
“Because I said I wanted you to make it look like an accident,” he says and I blink at him. Of all the things I was expecting him to say that was not it.   
“You hired me?” I ask and he nods so I ask the next logical question, “why did you hire me? If you wanted to die you could have done it yourself and save the kingdom some money. Besides if are feeling suicidal you should talk to someone that can help you,” I say and wonder how I went from trying to kill him to trying to talk him out of having himself killed.   
“I'm not suicidal.”  
“You hired an assassin to kill you. That seems pretty suicidal to me because I sure as hell don’t offer dance lessons.”  
“I don't want to die. I have to die.”   
“I'm going to need a bit more information than that,” I say putting the gun away.  
“If I die Caitlin takes the throne. She's always been far smarter and better at ruling than I. However father insisted that I take the throne instead of her.”   
“Okay so then step down,” I say.   
“The Royal treasury is nearly empty. Even she is not a miracle worker…”   
“...And if you die she gets a life insurance policy payout,” I say, as far as plans go it’s not the worst I’ve ever heard.   
“Three million dollars. Double if I die in an accident,” he says and things finally start to make sense to me.   
“You mean you weren't dipping into the treasury?”   
“No. Several mines on the western coast failed to produce their usual yield a couple of years back so money just slowly stopped coming in. My father did not handle the situation well and chose to keep the lines open instead of looking for places to build new ones. When he died I inherited all his bad choices and I don’t have the support or funds to fix any of it. But Caitlin can and I can give her the boost that she’ll need,” He says.  
“Does she know about this plan of yours?”  
“No. I cannot risk her losing support because of the investigation. That’s why I hired you with was was supposed to be my college fund. I cannot make an accident on my own and I can’t risk it looking like a suicide and have the company try to weasel out of paying her.”   
“I misjudged you,” I say feeling slightly bad for falling for the rumors.  
“A lot of people have. It’s...not okay...but it isn’t important right now. I knew when I hired you that there were going to be many people celebrating the news of my death and wishing it had come sooner,” he says.  
“You’re willing to die for people that will praise whoever made it happen?”  
“No. I am willing to die for my people. The people who it is my job to protect and if to do that I have to die then so be it,” he says and I stare at him.  
“How can you be so selfless?” I ask.   
“My Father may not have always made the best decisions but he had an undying love for the people we are responsible for. I watched him spend hours pouring over every petition people would send in. If someone had a grievance and were unable to come here he would go to them,” he says and then something changes in his eyes and he says, “I think we’ve had enough chit chat for one evening. Obviously you came in here with a plan to kill me. Perhaps we should get on with it before the guards arrive for duty. I would hate for them to get involved in anything that could hurt them.”  
“You still want me to kill you?” I ask something about this whole thing not sitting right with me.   
“Oh don’t tell me you’ve chosen now to grow a conscience,” he says with a grown.  
“Hey! I only take jobs when the person is a bad person. I don’t kill innocent people. I was fine with killing you when I thought that I would be killing a thief,” I say.  
“Oh great. Of course the assassin has morals now!” he snaps running his hands through his hair.  
“Look, I’m sorry that you’re scared but you don’t get to take it out on me. I won’t...no I can’t kill an innocent person,” I say.  
“Even if it is for the benefit the Kingdom?” He asks and and I sit on his dresser back leaning against the mirror.   
“Well, it’s not like I actually have to kill you. Your sister sounds like, from what I’ve seen of her personal projects, a very skilled negotiator. Meaning she can probably hold her own in an argument with an insurance company about paying out her brother’s insurance policy. Meaning we can probably get away with them never finding a body. If many people see you die,” I say.  
“What?”  
“We arrange for you to fall into the rocks over on Harbringer’s cliff during a press interview. I can climb down and paint some of the rock with your blood to make it look more realistic,” I say.  
“But why take the chance of the company refusing to pay out when we could easily just supply them with my dead body from the fall?”  
“Because you will live.”  
“How?”  
“The cliff face has all sorts of caves and caverns that open towards the sea. If we can get you into one then you can crawl along it to the hills overlooking the cliff. They never find a body, your sister takes the throne, and hopefully the kingdom will prosper,” I say and the king looks at me like I’ve grown an extra head.  
“That is a nice sentiment. But, how do we get me over the cliff and into those caves quickly enough that no one will see?”  
“You have horses still right?”  
“I still have my mother’s horse...why?”  
“Well if the horse were to escape the stables and runs towards the stage. You lose your footing and fall off the cliff with a rope attached and it swings you into the cavern. One pull to disconnect it from the cliff face and a rock dropped into the water and you’re dead as a doornail for all the world to believe.  
“No. I won’t risk my mother’s horse being killed because it caused my death,” he says.  
“Alright, there’s a underwater cave in Lake Clarice. We can rig it so that your car crashes into the lake and then you can swim into it. There’s a hole in the roof of the cave that I can help you find it and find your way out. Then we can take off for the nearest town that doesn’t know what you look like and you can start your new life out there in the world of not being royalty,” I say and his face twists into something I don't recognize. It might be fear mixed with disappointment.  
“I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that. I can't do covert,” he says.  
“That's not my problem now is it. My job is to kill you. I'm already giving you a chance to live. If you screw that up it's on you. Not me,” I say and he stares at me.  
“What am I supposed to do? I have no money, no marketable skills, I won't even be able to use my own name anymore. What am I supposed to do?” He asks.  
“Whatever it takes to survive. Just like your subjects do everyday,” I say.  
“But if I get caught I don't think that the kingdom will recover from the scandal,” he says and I have to admit that he has a point. The investigation and the repayment to the company will cripple the kingdom.  
“Then don't get caught,” I say.  
“Can you offer me any pointers?” he asks and I blink at him.  
“You’re asking me for advice?”   
“Of course you know more about this than anyone I would be able to go to,” he says.  
“Alright first you have to change the way you dress. Nothing in bright colors In most situations the ideal outfit has dark muted colors, is clean, covers your body and make sure it matches. However if you are planning to go somewhere where people are wearing bright colors go with that. Behave the same exact way everyone else is behaving. If everyone is screaming and jumping around, then do the same and don’t look around like you’re nervous. That’ll draw attention to you. wearing a hat could help too and shave your beard. Also change the way you walk, try removing the liner from your shoe to walk lopsided,” I say and he stares at me.  
“How am I going to remember all of that? I’ve never done anything like this before and I didn’t exactly plan on living past next week,” he says and I sigh.   
“Alright how about this, I’m tired of going back and forth with you. How about you tag along with me as an assistant and I’ll teach you some of the tricks of the trade through practical training and then we’ll see what we can do with you. Also since technically I saved your life I’m going to start calling you Alastair until you decide on a new name,” I say.  
“Fine and what is your name?”  
“Vivian,” I say.  
“Ironic, an assassin whose name means life,” Alastair says.  
“Or fitting in this case,” I say.  
Setting up the car to go into the water takes maybe a day. The hardest part is making sure he’ll be able to close the door after he gets out. We spend hours learning the best way to make the car leave proper marks on the road to make it look like he tried to keep the car out of the water and another day to figure out how hard he’ll have to hit the guide rail in order to break through it all while making sure he’d have a quick clean shot to the cave without needing to come up with air. It’s a lot of work but finally we manage to get everything perfect. We even manage to time it for the rain which means it’ll be even more believable and there likely won’t be anyone around to see it happen and try to play hero. Although it will make the swimming more difficult but he can do it. We've been practicing what not to do so everything should be fine.  
The next day late in the afternoon after the rain has come and gone. A couple on their way to a picnic spots the smashed railing and call the police. The police then find the skid marks and the sunken car that everyone knows belongs to the King and they begin dragging the lake for his body.   
From a nearby hill Alastair and I watch this happen along with a couple of other groups of people. When we see them pull the car out of the lake we make our way down to the road and we start walking to my car. Normally I don’t take it to job sites but I couldn’t risk anyone seeing him.  
The next day people all over the kingdom celebrate as the Queen takes the throne and two weeks later she announces that Alastair has been officially declared dead. Which means that she’ll be receiving the insurance payout soon.   
I never thought I would see someone as happy about their own untimely demise as Alastair was when his sister made the announcement.

**Author's Note:**

> This written for a class let me know what you think.


End file.
